PERU PERPLEXED BY ECUADORIAN MARITIME COMPLAINT

UNCLAS LIMA 001675 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL EC PE SUBJECT: PERU PERPLEXED BY ECUADORIAN MARITIME COMPLAINT ¶1. (SBU) Peru's MFA is perplexed by recent news reports that the Government of Ecuador (GOE) planned to send a formal note of complaint for Peru's alleged failure to agree to GOE protocol relating to Peruvian naval vessels' passage into Ecuadorian territorial waters during upcoming UNITAS naval exercises. (The news reports stated that the GOE would also send a note of protest to the U.S. The initial venue of the UNITAS exercises, in waters off Ecuador's coast, has been changed due to Ecuadorian demands.) ¶2. (SBU) MFA Director General for South American Affairs Jose Luis Salinas (protect) told us May 7 that, contrary to news reports, there existed no dispute in connection with maritime boundaries between Peru and Ecuador, and that Foreign Minister Garcia Belaunde had reaffirmed this fact in public responses to Ecuadorian allegations. Salinas said the MFA had not received any formal note of protest from the GOE, saw no justification for it, and doubted that one would be forthcoming. He speculated that Ecuadorian government officials had overreacted to the agitations of certain sectors within that country and (speaking personally) attributed the government's overreaction to inexperience. Salinas affirmed that the 1952 Maritime Zone Declaration and the 1954 Special Maritime Border Agreement unambiguously defined the maritime boundary between Peru and Ecuador. He acknowledged that these agreements fell short of formal treaty status, which he averred was a longer term goal of the Government of Peru. STRUBLE